It is well known that occupants of watercrafts, especially small boats, may experience a jarring and unsettling ride as the boat moves through the water. As the waves impact the hull of the boat, the shock waves are almost directly transferred to the occupant. Such shock waves can seriously diminish the enjoyment and comfort of the boat passengers. In extreme cases, the harshness of the ride may lead to spinal injuries or at the very least aggravate preexisting spinal conditions. The discomfort is especially prevalent if the boat is relatively small and is moving fast through choppy water.
The harshness of the ride is often only slightly mitigated by the typical boat seat. Standard boat seats are rigidly secured to the deck of the boat and include a cushion material which provides only a minimal amount of shock accommodation and dissipation. Therefore, an occupant sitting in a typical boat seat is subjected to some discomfort as the boat travels through the water. Such discomfort is especially troublesome if the occupant is suffering from a sore back or neck and may lead to individuals refraining from engaging in watercraft associated activities. In addition to the discomfort resulting from the motion of the boat as it travels through the water, the driver of the boat may find it difficult to maintain control since they are being tossed about. Such a jarring ride makes it difficult to hold the steering device steady and to maintain control over the throttle.
The experience of being tossed about in one's seat can also be experienced by those riding in land vehicles, especially off-road passenger vehicles and/or construction vehicles. Even though such vehicles include suspension systems which are designed to somewhat isolate the occupants from the irregularities in the roadway, the suspension systems are limited in their capacity to do that and the passengers still can receive significant vibrations especially if the vehicle is moving rapidly over rough terrain.
Attempts have been made in the prior art in order to accommodate shock waves imparted to boats or land vehicles. One such attempt is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,229 to Frank. Frank discloses a seat construction for a boat that comprises a support sleeve arranged for mounting on a boat with a longitudinal axis vertical to the boat. An elongate seat support element is slidable longitudinally of the sleeve and is configured and is confined by an upper bearing element of the sleeve and a lower bearing element of the sleeve. A spring is retained within the sleeve and adapted to permit the seat support element to extend therein. The seat support element is permitted to move under bias of the spring in a vertical direction. Therefore, the seat construction provides flexibility to the seat in order to accommodate vertical shock. However, the Frank device requires that the sleeve extend below the deck of the boat, which would require significant modifications in order to install this on an existing boat. Furthermore, there is no separate shock-dampening device; therefore, the occupant may end up bouncing up and down with the seat in an exaggerated manner in response to a shock wave hitting the boat.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,893,470 to Peller discloses an adjustable seat with shock adsorbing capabilities. The seat includes a pair of telescoping cylinders which contain a coil spring surrounding a hydraulic shock absorber. The height of the seat can be adjusted by rotation of a handle which, through a series of gears, adjusts the distance between the bottom of the shock absorber and the bottom of the surface to which the seat is mounted. In this design, the telescoping cylinders form a pedestal directly beneath the seating surface of the seat. Therefore, the seating surface must be spaced a significant distance from the mounting surface, which would make this design difficult to use in a retrofit situation.
Use of telescoping cylinders with a spring and shock absorbing apparatus formed therein is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,400,974 to Parker. This design discloses the use of two pedestals formed underneath the seating surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,095 to Yamauchi discloses a suspension seat for an automotive vehicle including a seat frame which is vertically movably supported on a parallel link mechanism having front and rear links. A compression spring and shock absorber coaxially combined is provided and is installed between the upper backside of the portion of the seat frame and an arm portion connected to the rear link. The forward link includes a cross member which extends across the front of the seat underneath the cushion. Therefore, the space beneath the seat is not clear of restrictions.
In boating applications it is becoming ever more popular to provide seats having a seating section which can be selectively swung out of the way in order to allow the occupant to move from a seated position to a standing position. Being able to stand at the seat has various benefits including permitting an occupant to have increased visibility while still having access to the various boat controls.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a seat and suspension system having a suspension system absorbing vibrations and impacts imparted thereto wherein the area beneath the seating surface of the seat is unobstructed thereby permitting a low profile design which is desired in both retrofit applications and applications requiring the seat to be swung out of the way allowing the occupant to move from a sitting position to a standing position.